


late at night your smile burns bright

by polyamory



Series: 30 days of tw femslash [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 30 Days of Femslash, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Coffee Shops, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, First Kiss, First Meetings, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 01:14:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6832903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyamory/pseuds/polyamory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're just so kind, and I needed that so much right now," she sobs. "Thank you, Lydia."<br/>"I'm going to hurt everyone who's ever been not kind to you," Lydia promises, "but first I'm gonna hug you, alright?"</p>
<p>Allison cries on the night bus and Lydia is the drunk girl who comes over to comfort her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	late at night your smile burns bright

**Author's Note:**

> based on [this tumblr post](http://sashayed.tumblr.com/post/120024414860/)  
> warning for alcohol as lydia is drunk in the first part of the story  
> bonus points for whoever spots the criminal minds reference c:

There are many reasons Allison usually opts out of the monthly family dinners and right now, sitting on the night bus with her mother's sharp words etched into her brain, she's acutely reminded of every single one of them.

She leans her head against the window, the gentle vibrations of the bus running through her skull. Her mother hadn't even said anything new, just the same old judgmental remarks about how she should do something worthwhile with her life instead of throwing it away because god forbid Allison pursue her passion.

And now Victoria has given her an ultimatum. Stop studying photography or they would stop helping her pay tuition.

Allison had looked to her father then, because even if he didn't like her choices he'd always been the softer one compared to her mother, which was basically like comparing steel to diamonds. But Chris had only met her eyes for barely a moment, before looking at his wife.

"Your mother's made her decision." And that's how it's always been in this family.

Allison feels the first tear slip down her cheek and she can just picture her mother's condescending frown in her mind.

"Come on, Allison," she curses herself. "Don't cry, you're not fucking weak." But it only makes her cry harder.

She has no idea what she's going to do now and the hopelessness of the situation crashes into her again like a bulldozer. A sob escapes her and then another and she can't stifle them anymore as she wipes furiously at her eyes to stem the floodgates.

"Oh, no," a voice calls from across the aisle and Allison glances up to see a girl looking at her.

The girl has red hair and large eyes and she's sitting with a group of friends, all of them slightly drunk from the looks of it. She levers herself up, gripping the back of the seat for balance and sways over to Allison. She plops down next to Allison, folding her leg under her her.

"Don't cry," she says, her tone pleading and her eyes wide, as if she might start crying too.

"Sorry," Allison tries to laugh but it comes out more like a sob. She wipes at her cheeks but the tears keep on coming.

"It's gonna be okay, beautiful," the girl reassures her, petting Allison's shoulder.

"Not this time." The words come almost without her permission. She's just leaking all over the place tonight, her tears, her words.

"Of course it will," the girl says and she sounds so convinced that it makes Allison smile just a little. "See," the girl smiles back, "there's that beautiful smile you've been hiding. I'm Lydia, by the way."

"Allison."

"Hello, Allison," Lydia says, taking her hand. She doesn't even shake it, just kind of cradles Allison's hand in both of hers, rubbing small circles into Allison's palm. "D'you want me to kiss it better?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Allison says as kindly as possible.

"Why not?" Lydia pouts.

"Cause you're drunk," Allison smiles, putting her other hand on top of Lydia's.

"Can I hug you at least?"

"Sure, yeah," Allison laughs, just a little, because Lydia looks so sincere and she probably won't remember this in the morning, but right now she's exactly what Allison needs. The sheer kindness of her makes Allison tear up again.

"Are you sure?" Lydia frowns. "You're crying again."

"You're just so kind, and I needed that so much right now," she sobs. "Thank you, Lydia."

"I'm going to hurt everyone who's ever been not kind to you," Lydia promises, "but first I'm gonna hug you, alright?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," Allison says, opening her arms and Lydia practically falls into her, wrapping her arms around Allison's waist.

Allison buries her face in Lydia's hair and it's so soft and it smells like shampoo and sweat and it's so nice that Allison starts crying again.

"You're crying into my hair," Lydia mumbles.

"Sorry," Allison laughs, trying to pull away, but Lydia tightens her grip.

"No, it's okay," she says and starts rubbing Allison's back. Allison sobs, her whole body shaking with it and Lydia hums quietly into her ear, a tuneless, soothing sound.

"Lydia," one of her friends calls out, coming over to them. "Next stop is ours."

"Thank you," Allison says as they disentangle themselves.

"Glad I could help a beautiful girl like you," Lydia smiles. Then she turns around to her friend. "Erica, this is Allison, she's sad."

"Here," Erica offers, holding out an open bag of chips. "You can have them. You need them more than me."

"Thanks," Allison laughs, taking the chips. They smell wonderfully fried and fatty.

"You should give me your number," Lydia says. "And then maybe when I'm not drunk you'll kiss me, yeah?"

"Yeah, maybe," Allison smiles.

"Here," Lydia pulls a sharpie from her purse and holds out her arm to Allison. Allison writes down her number and her name and Lydia giggles.

"Ticklish," she says, when Allison glances up at her.

"C'mon, we have to go," Erica says just as the bus comes to a stop.

"Don't frown, Allison, someone could be falling in love with your smile," Lydia says and walks down the aisle after her friends.

"Bye, Lydia," Allison smiles.

 

"Hello?" Allison says, wedging her phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Hi, um, Allison?" The voice sounds vaguely familiar, but Allison can't pinpoint where she's heard it before.

"Yes. Who's this?"

"Uh, this is Lydia? Sorry, it's just I woke up with your number on my arm, but I don't really ... remember..."

"Oh, Lydia, of course! Sorry, your voice sounds different on the phone. "We met yesterday night on the bus. I was crying and you hugged me," Allison smiles at the memory.

"Right, now I remember," Lydia laughs. "You promised me a kiss."

"I did, didn't I?"

"So, do you maybe wanna grab a coffee?" Lydia asks.

"Sure, when?"

"How bout now? I need coffee anyways."

Allison considers for a moment, she doesn't have any plans for the day, what with it being Sunday and all, but if she's gonna have to fend for herself soon, she should probably cut down on Starbucks drinks.

"Unless you're busy, of course. I mean, this is rather short notice," Lydia goes on.

"No, no, it's not that. I'd love to go. There's a great cafe near Clara Park we could go to. It's called Coyote Coffee."

"Sounds great! See you in a bit,"

"Yeah, see you!" Allison says, smiling to herself.

 

"Ally!" Malia greets her with a smile when she walks into the cafe ten minutes later. "What are you doing here? You're not working today?"

"I'm on a date, actually," Allison confesses, coming up to the counter.

"A date? And I thought you only came for me. Or to complain about your parents. Didn't you go to dinner with them yesterday?"

"Yeah, I did," Allison sighs at the reminder. "Speaking of, I might have to take on more hours soon."

"What? Why?" Malia asks, brows furrowed.

"I'll tell you everything later, okay? For now I just wanna enjoy my date for a little while."

"Sure, yeah," Malia smiles. "So, what can I get you? The usual?"

"And a double espresso for my date, please."

"So, how did you two meet, again?" Malia asks as she turns away to start making the coffee.

"We met yesterday on the bus when I was on my way back. It's actually kind of embarrassing," Allison laughs. "I was crying on the bus and Lydia, that's her name, came over and comforted me."

"She sounds like a good person," Malia says.

"Yeah, I think she is."

The door chimes behind them and when Allison turns around Lydia is smiling at her.

"Hey, you," she greets.

"Hey," Allison smiles. "I took the liberty of ordering an espresso for you, that alright?"

"Perfect," Lydia smiles.

Malia slides their drinks over and holds her hand out for Lydia to shake. "Hi, I'm Malia, Allison's best friend. If you hurt her I'll make sure they never find your body."

"Good to know," Lydia says with a slight quirk of her lips.

"Sorry about her," Allison winces, leading the way over to her usual table.

"Don't worry," Lydia says with a wave of her hand. "I'm just glad you have someone looking out for you. Not that drunk strangers on the night bus aren't a great support system but, y'know," she grins.

"Yeah, I do," Allison smiles back, taking a sip of her latte.

"So, tell me about yourself? We don't have to be strangers any longer."

Allison really doesn't need to be asked twice.

She talks about herself, her photography, and it's so refreshing to see Lydia's enthusiasm even when Allison starts going off on a tangent about the different advantages of film versus digital. She talks about the archery lessons she teaches at the local community center, about Sergio, her cat, about Malia and working at Coyote Coffee.

"So, what about you?" Allison asks finally when it feels like she's been talking for an hour straight.

"Well," Lydia says, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "I'm studying to become a programmer and right now I'm working on a visual novel with Erica and Kira, two of my friends."

"Erica is the blonde one, right? I met her yesterday," Allison nods.

"Yeah, that's her," Lydia says with a fond smile. "She does the marketing, Kira writes the story and I, well, I write the code, and we all kind of collaborate on the art."

"That sounds really cool? What's it about?"

"So," Lydia starts, leaning forward with a passionate gleam in her eye, "it's about this group of teenagers and they're werewolves and one of them is a banshee and another is a kitsune and one's a human but she's still pretty badass. And basically they're just trying to survive and protect their town and sort through all their supernatural drama without letting it affect their normal life teenage drama. And it has lesbians."

"You had me at 'werewolves,'" Allison laughs. "And then you had me again at 'lesbians.'" 

"Thanks," Lydia smiles at her. "I'm really proud of it."

Lydia's phone buzzes suddenly and she pulls a face. "Speak of the devil. It's Erica, she needs my help with something, sorry."

"No problem," Allison says as Lydia gets up. They walk outside together but Lydia stops on the sidewalk, just looking at her.

"So," Allison asks a little nervously, "will I see you again?"

"That depends," Lydia smirks. "Do I finally get my kiss?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Allison says and steps closer, right into Lydia's personal space.

The kiss is brief, barely more than a press of lips, and Lydia grins wickedly when she pulls away.

"You'll just have to come back for more."

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [twlesbians](http://www.twlesbians.tumblr.com) where i post all my work and you can request fics!!


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